iOS 4.3.4 Is Out; Fixes JailbreakMe 3.0 Exploit

Fire up iTunes and grab the latest iOS update--unless you jailbroke your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, that is. Apple released the iOS 4.3.4 update, which fixes a lovely PDF rendering bug that could allow someone with nefarious intents to take control of your iPhone. This particular flaw is also what allowed for Jailbreak.me 3.0, which finally brought a jailbreak to the iPad 2.

As noted by MacStories.net, the iOS 4.3.4 update wasn't necessarily intended to quell jailbreaking; instead, it was released to prevent malicious hacks that exploited the vulnerability.

Although this particular flaw got lots of press, jailbreaking by its very nature exploits security flaws in iOS to get around the device limitations that Apple's put in place. So in this sense, for iOS jailbreakers, these bugs are double-edged swords--they let you unlock new capabilities on your iDevice, but they can be significant security issues, as is the case with this flaw.

If you haven't jailbroken your iOS gadget (and aren't planning to do so anytime soon), you should probably upgrade to 4.3.4 as soon as possible. If you have jailbroken your iOS gadget, you have a decision to make; 4.3.4 will more than likely undo the jailbreak, but not upgrading will leave you vulnerable to malicious attack. I won't make a recommendation here, so weigh the pros and cons carefully.